Analysis of Carbet’s Poetry in Point D’orgue: Implications to Contexts of Caribbean Cultural Definitions

The definition of a culture is convoluted; an amalgam of historical ambiance, traditions, and internalization of subconscious perceptions. Perhaps this complexity is what has made definition of Caribbean culture very challenging. While being governed by European aesthetic norms in a dominated colonized society, Caribbeans in Martinique often struggled to develop a concept of self; striving to free themselves, yet misguided in their approach. What resulted is a series of literary movements; each pertaining to the definition of Caribbean culture. The authors of these movements developed unique perspectives about racism through the contexts of identity, psychology, linguistics and ideology. One such author is Mary-Magdeline Carbet, whose Point d’orgue, in 1958, showcased her native beliefs towards her Caribbean culture as well as her role of a woman in society through her poetry. Although her perspective in her poetry is vague; there are numerous undertones in her writing which are reflected in later works by Caribbean authors such as Franz Fanon and Jean Bernabé. Although Carbet does not address all the contexts of Caribbean culture, her ambivalent poetic voice within her poems is one which is indicative and symbolic of dynamic definitions of culture in French Caribbean literature. This study will analyze the contexts of culture referenced in Carbet’s poems using perspectives from later works such as Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks and Bernabé’s “In Praise of Creoleness”. While the later works offers a more refined definition of Caribbean culture, there are subtle allusions to similar ideas within Carbet’s poetry. Identity within “In Praise of Creoleness” is defined as “an interior attitude-better, a vigilance, or even better a sort of mental envelope” (Bernabe et al.886). This definition proceeds with a distinct contrast to an “exteriority”, which represents a “quasity-complete acquisition of another identity”. In this respect, Bernabé delves into the

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